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Footfault Avalanche
Location: Deerfield, New York Date: February 15, 1993 Story On February 15, 1993, after a fierce snowstorm had left an unusually thick blanket of fresh snow in Deerfield, New York, 11-year-old Grant Rosure and 12-year-old Greg Sisk went out to have fun in it. "The ravines in the area are deep and dangerous. And we do our best to try to make the kids know that they not allowed to play in the ravine. It's too dangerous," Grant's father, Ken Rosure, said. Grant and Greg had been good friends for six years. "We hang out a lot. We go to the mall. We go skiing together. We get girls together so fast. Just hang out," Grant said. They told Ken that they going on a snow slide, but they didn't tell him that they going to the ravine, despite being told not to. "We both like the thrill. I'll take bungee jumping. You're just going freefalling," Grant said. After sliding down one part of the ravine, they found a pile of big drift of snow in another part of it. As they went to the edge of the drift, they heard it sink down a little. Then as they prepared to slide down it, it gave way, causing both Greg and Grant fell through it and slid down 80 feet while the drift created an avalanche that buried both of them. After a moment, Grant got himself out of the buried snow. After taking his covered mask off, he looked for Greg and couldn't see any trace of him. Suspecting Greg was buried next to where he was, Grant began to dig. "It was weird because one minute you were on top and having fun, the next thing, it was really scary," Grant stated. After digging for awhile and not finding Greg, Grant decided to get help and climbed back on top. Due to the deep snow, he slowly headed back to his house and told Ken and his aunt, Rene Bertuzzi, what had happened. Ken had someone called for help, but the rescuers were several miles away. He and Rene went to find Greg. He slid down the ravine to search below while Rene searched on top while calling out Greg's name. "I just couldn't believe how much snow was there. I was just thinking to myself that there was no way he could be buried under there and still be alive," Rene recalled. Rene then spotted Greg's cap and yelled out to Ken. After seeing it, he suspected that Greg was buried to where Grant was digging and began to pull snow off the area to find him, despite not wearing gloves. When he started digging, more than 20 minutes had passed since the avalanche. "I really don't remember thinking about other to get down through the snow fast as possible. And if he's not there, move to another spot and if he's not there, move to another spot. Nothing was gotta stop me until I found him," Ken recalled. Rene then joined Ken as they started digging furiously to extricate Greg from the deep, thick snow while they tried yelling out to him. Then they found his snow covered head. Rene was terrified by the thought that he could be dead. "When we found him, I thought he was dead. I just couldn't imagine telling his parents what had happened," Rene admitted. "I was digging up one of my son's best friends. there was no sign of life, respirations, or anything. But the scariest moment was when I saw his eyes, they were half open and glazed. That would stick with you forever," Ken admitted. After Ken and Rene got Greg out, he had been buried in the snow for 40 minutes. Although they both were untrained in CPR, they did so as best they possibly remembered how to. Then Deerfield Volunteer Fire Department arrived and Fire Captain Paul Meek help coordinate a rescue attempt. While Ken and Rene tried to get air into Greg's lungs, they saw his eyes twitch and thought he has a chance of surviving his ordeal. Advanced EMT Steve Barry treated Greg on the scene. "He was blue and breathing slowly and very shallow. But it wasn't enough to maintain life," Barry stated. Normally, repelling was necessary for rescue attempt in Deerfield. Captain Meek knew that was their only way to get Greg out. Barry was amazed that Greg was breathing on his own, but was concerned that brain damage could happen. The rescuers began to drag him out of the ravine. "When they dragged him out, I was starting to assess what does life mean for this child. Does it mean brain damage? Does it mean not being the same person he was before," Ken recalled. Just as Greg was loaded into the ambulance, his mother, Mary Angela Sisk, arrived. The medics told her that they were working on reviving him. When she saw him, he looked like a dead person. She couldn't go near him because they had to work on him. Greg was transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital, where a trauma team treated him, including trauma nurse Patsy Monnis. While they treated Greg, he was hypothermic and his body temperature was 88 degrees. Although that helped prevent brain damage, when it dropped, it could change a lot of things in the body, leading to problems that are serious and sometimes fatal. In a effort to slowly warm Greg's body, the team placed him on a Bear Hugger. They kept on eye for him in case of complications in the warming process and prevent any symptoms, such as cardiac arrest. "It's very tough to see him like that. Very tough. He was very brave, but he was very scared," Monnis recalled. A CAT scan revealed that Greg had suffered no brain damage. He was later taken to the pediatric unit, where his family and friends finally got to see him. "His blue eyes were big and wide. He knew who I was and hugged and kissed me. It was a great moment." Mary Angela stated. "When I buried down in the snow, I was struggling for a few minutes. Then I just gave up because I knew there was no hope for me. To me, I would not see anybody again," Greg recalled. "In the hospital, the food was bad, but we had pretty nurses. But when I ready to get out, I wanted some pizza." After the incident, Greg had completely recovered. Mary Angela is grateful to Grant, Ken, and Rene for helping to find and save him from the ravine. "I believe it was a miracle that anybody who could be under the snow that long looked the way he looked and go through he went through. Then come out of it upstage. We were lucky. Very lucky. All of us," Ken recalled. "I just did what I thought was right. I calmed myself down and went up the ravine to get some help. We're good friends. I was just lucky to be around and just wanted to share one more round with him," Grant stated. "When I found out what Grant did for me, I think he really saved my life and I love him as my brother. We got a lot closer since the accident. There's a lesson we learned. Don't take risks with your life because it can happened in an instant. Your life could be taken away," Greg said. Category:1993 Category:New York